Knitted protective article for wearing in a prosthesis or orthopedic appliance and method of making the same



June 24, 1969 BELZIDSKY 3,451,232

. KNITTED PROTECTIVE ARTICLE FOR WEARING IN A PROSTHESIS OR ORTHOPEDICAPPLIANCE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed April 5, 1 967 UnitedStates Patent 3,451,232 KNITTED PROTECTIVE ARTICLE FOR WEARING IN APROSTHESIS OR ORTHOPEDIC APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME DavidBelzidsky, 191 Rue Saint Charles, Paris, France Filed Apr. 5, 1967, Ser.No. 628,688 Claims priority, application France, Apr. 8, 1966,

U.S. Cl. 66-171 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method andapparatus for making a protective article for wearing with a prosthesisor orthopedic appliance. The article comprises plated knitting having atleast two different kinds of thread material, such as woolen andsynthetic fiber. The method comprises the steps of arranging theknitting operation on a double needle bed or circular knitting machinewith one kind of thread on an inner side normally forming the back sideof the knitting and with the other kind of thread on an outer sidenormally forming the front of the knitting, and after the knittingoperation turning the article over so that the knitting is arranged withthe front forming the inside of the finished article and the back partof the knitting forming the outside of the article.

It is known that persons obliged to make use of an orthopedic orprosthesis appliance are accustomed to protecting their skin from directcontact with the appliance by wearing a knitted protective device.

For example, amputated persons, for protecting the stump remaining oftheir natural limb from direct contact with the prosthesis appliance,generally use a protective cap that is usually rather thick, which, forsome time has been made of knitted material.

The stitch universally employed for making an article of this kind isthe jersey stitch which, by means of machines in use, enables theobtaining, when two strands are utilized, of either an almost equaldistribution of the two strands on both faces of the work, or apreferential dis tribution of one of the strands on one of the faceswhere it can be seen, and of course, a preferential distribution of theother strand on the other face.

This latter technique, called Vanisage or plating, is especially putinto operation when two strands of different natures are employed, theone of wool, the other of synthetic fiber, for example.

Vanisage or plating has already been applied to the making of certainprotective articles, such, for example, as caps for amputated persons,with a view to obtaining a finished article in which the woolen strandis predominant on the inner face, on contact with the skin, or with asheath protecting the latter, whereas the strong tough synthetic fiberstrand is predominant on the outer face in contact with the prosthesisappliance.

This distribution of strands on the two faces in the finished articledirectly corresponds to the same arrangement of these strands on theknitting machine, whether in the case of a two-needle bed machine or acircular machine.

Nevertheless, these articles, made entirely of wool or a mixture, do notgive complete satisfaction to those who wear them.

The methods of knitting adopted up till now always lead to a relativelyrough and uneven inner face, which is irritating after prolongedfriction; in any case, this inner face does not possess all the softnessdesired by users.

In the particular case of vanised or plated articles as explained above,two faces of very different aspects are obtained. On the outside, on thesynthetic fiber side, we find the right side of the knitting which hasan assembly of parallel ribs close together, which extend longitudinallywithout continuity solution. On the inside, on the wool side, we findthe back of the knitting, which occurs as a succession of parallel wavyrows, separated from each other by a slight depression, and which extendcrosswise.

It is obvious that the inner face, which possesses the texture describedabove, is far from perfectly answering to the greatest facility ofsliding in a longitudinal direction required for the greatest comfort ofwearers of appliances.

A first object of the invention is to produce a knitting process formaking protective sheaths for the benefit of amputated persons, whoseinner face in contact with the mutilated limb shall be soft, with a lowfriction coefficient, whereas the outer face in contact with theprosthesis appliance will be relatively rough.

Another object of the invention is to produce a protective sheath ofvanised knitting with a synthetic fiber and more particularly a woolenstrand, the woolen strand having an assembly of parallel ribs in thelongitudinal direction of the sheath and forming the inner face of thissheath, whereas the synthetic strand occurs as a succession of parallelwavy rows extending crosswise to the longitudinal axis of the sheath andforming its external face.

Other objects and advantages will be revealed by the description of theinvention, the claims and attached drawing, in which is illustrated oneembodiment of a knitted protective article conducted in accordance withthe features of the invention.

To give an example of the application of the invention, the case ischosen of a protective cap intended to be used by amputated persons.Although the invention is perfectly adapted to articles acting toprotect stumps, it covers all protective articles in general, placedunder an appliance. This example is thus not restrictive:

The cap 1 is shown as it appears after operating the process of theinvention, ready to be slipped on to a stump to be protected.

At the top right hand part of the cap 1, one of the halves has beenpartially cut away. We thus see simultaneously, on the one hand theouter face 2, the back of the knitting, appearing as a succession ofparallel wavy rows 3, extending crosswise, essentially formed ofsynthetic fiber; on the other hand the inner face 4, the right side ofthe knitting, appearing as an assembly of longitudinal parallel ribs 5,essentially formed of woolen strand.

It can be clearly seen from the figure that rubbing on the inner face 4is appreciably reduced as compared to that of the outer face 2, moreparticularly in a longitudinal direction. We thus clearly obtain theadvantages sought for, referred to above.

It is obvious, as has been stated, that the invention is not restrictedto the type of protective article described and shown, but that itcovers all articles intended to be placed under any kind of prosthesisor orthopedic ap pliance. Also, it is not restricted to using a woolenstrand especially; this designation has only been used as an example.Actually, it sufficies to make use of two strands of different naturesfor obtaining vanised knitting in accordance with the invention.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples of embodimentdescribed and shown above, for which other methods and other forms ofembodiment can be provided, without going outside of the scope of theinvention for that purpose.

What I claim is:

1. A method of making a protective article for wearing with a prosthesisor orthopedic appliance, said article of plated knitting having at leasttwo different kinds of thread material, said method comprising the stepsof arranging a knitting operation on a double needle bed or circularknitting machine with one kind of thread on an inner side normallyforming the back of the knitting and with the other kind of thread on anouter side normally forming the front of the knitting, and, after saidknitting operation, turning over said knitting whereby said back formsthe outside of a finished article and said front forms the insidethereof.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said one kind of thread is knitted topredominate on the outside of a plurality of elongated ribs extendinggenerally longitudinally of said article on said back of said knittingand said other kind of thread is knitted to predominate on the outsideof a plurality of undulated rows transverse of the longitudinal axis ofsaid article on said front side of said knitting.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said one kind of strand compriseswoolen fibers and said other kind of strand comprises synthetic fibers.

4. A protective article for wearing with a prosthesis or orthopedicappliance comprising a plated knitting having at least two kinds ofthread material, said article including an inner face formed essentiallyby a normal right side of the knitting having a plurality oflongitudinally extending parallel ribs formed substantially of one ofsaid thread materials and an outer face formed essentially by a normalback side of the knitting having a succession of wavy parallel rowsformed of said other thread material and extending transversely of saidlongitudinal ribs.

5. The article of claim 4 wherein said one thread material compriseswoolen fibers and said other thread material comprises synthetic fibers.

6. The article of claim 4 wherein said one thread material is softerthan the other thread material and said other thread material isstronger and tougher than said one thread material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,321,966 11/1919 Witherell66-171 2,412,087 12/1946 Herbert 2239 XR 3,259,915 7/1966 Dison 2-2393,307,379 3/1966 Woolley et al. 66-182 XR 3,331,221 7/1967 Lawson 66170FOREIGN PATENTS 1,445,063 5/ 1966 France.

WILLIAM C. REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 3l9; 66182

